Welcome! I am a contemplative thinker and photographer from Colorado. In this blog, you'll discover photographs that I've taken on my hiking and backpacking trips, mostly in the American West. I've paired these with my favorite inspirational and philosophical quotes - literary passages that emphasize the innate spirituality of the natural world. I hope you enjoy them!

If you'd like to purchase photo-quote greeting cards, please go to www.NaturePhoto-QuoteCards.com .


In the Spirit of Wildness,

Stephen Hatch
Fort Collins, Colorado

P.S. There's a label index at the bottom of the blog.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Society is like a bland paste that is constantly stirred, thus rendering the crystallization of individual character more difficult.


"Many come to the mountains for the very purpose of escaping from bondage. There are ropes enough in civilization.  It seems one of the gravest faults of civilized life that uniformity prevents separate development.  The body politic, though at best like a family or composite plant, is beaten into a kind of paste and constantly stirred, thus rendering perfect crystallization of individual character difficult or next to impossible; one is developed only in a special direction like a tree that receives sunshine only on one side."

The Contemplative John Muir, p. 211

Photo: Snowbank and ridge above Montgomery Pass, Medicine Bow Range, CO, March 16, 2012.  If you are interested in checking out my new book - "The Contemplative John Muir - go to http://www.lulu.com/shop/stephen-hatch/the-contemplative-john-muir/paperback/product-18858846.html .

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